The castle is being offered by a Scottish building firm that abandoned plans for a resort because of the area's high taxes and objections of villagers.

Several hundred prospective buyers -- including a handful of Americans -- have expressed an interest in Slains Castle, a crumbling ruin perched on a storm-lashed cliff above the North Sea.

The setting, where Stoker often vacationed, inspired the British author's 1897 novel, Dracula, about the immortal vampire who stalked the streets of London at night in search of blood.

''Looking up at this huge castle on the wind-swept cliffs, Stoker saw it fit to house his vampire,'' said John Rhind of the Aberdeen and Northern real estate firm.

''It was such an inspiration for him that he used to walk the cliffs at night with his cape blowing in the wind,'' he added.

Stoker based his character on Vlad the Impaler -- also known as Vlad Dracula, a 15th century Transylvanian prince who disposed of peasants by impaling them on wooden stakes. The real Castle Dracula is in Romania.

The Scottish real estate sale is actually for 330 acres with a farmhouse and cottage on the rocky headland north of Cruden Bay. The roofless, crumbling stone skeleton of Slains Castle stands on 100 acres at the edge of the land, on cliffs 200 feet above the bay.

''There's very little value in Dracula's castle itself. It just so happens the land has the castle and the castle has the connection with Dracula,'' he said.

''The land has a tremendous amount of potential in farming, tourism and quite a few other things. One English chap said he wants to turn it into a 'frightful weekend' resort.''